The
Gators (17-1, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) improve to 3-0 this season in
five-set matches. Florida
recorded double-digit team blocks for the second consecutive match, posting
10.0 blocks in the contest. The Gators were valiant in their comeback, winning
despite being out-blocked 17-10 and out-dug 70-64.

Murphy
dished out 20 assists to complement her 19 kills and just barely missed her
fourth triple-double, finishing with eight digs. She recorded a career-high
20.0 points in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park, Fla.)
tied her career high with 12 digs to go along with nine kills and three blocks.

“This was
a great SEC road win,” Florida
head coach Mary Wise said. “We were able to make enough plays in the
second, fourth and fifth sets in order to win. This match was as close as it
could have gotten. LSU made us a better team tonight. They played really well
and Brittnee Cooper played like an All-American in this match.”

Junior
libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose,
Fla.) moved into sole possession
of second place on the school’s all-time digs list with 17 scoops in the match.
She increased her career total to 1,401. She also provided a number of key
service runs in the match. Cusack did not commit a service error in the match,
recording a perfect 1.000 serving percentage on 31 service attempts with two
aces.

Junior
middle blocker Kristina Johnson (Indianapolis,
Ind.) posted a team-high six blocks in the
match, while freshman middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.)
had a career-high five kills and also posted four blocks.

LSU raced
out to a 6-1 advantage to begin the first set that forced Wise to burn an early
timeout. Out of the break, the Tigers’ Elena Martinez committed a service error
and Ward followed with a kill to spark a 4-1 run by the Gators that brought
them within two, 7-5. LSU responded with two consecutive points to widen its
advantage back to four, 9-5, after back-to-back kills by Sam Dabbs and Michele
Williams. Rivers answered with a kill of her own and the Tigers were called for
illegal contact to bring Florida
back within two, 9-7. LSU then ran off five consecutive points to extend its
lead out to seven, 14-7.

Out of
the break, behind the service of Williams, the Tigers scored two more points
before she committed a service error to end the LSU scoring spree with the
Tigers ahead 16-7. With the Gators trailing 17-8, they scored three consecutive
points, with the run capped off by a resounding block from Johnson and Ward in
the middle. That rally brought Florida
to within six, 17-11. The two teams then traded points until the Gators,
trailing 21-13, scored four points in a row, including a kill by Rivers and
back-to-back put-downs on the right side by Murphy, to cut within four, 21-17,
heading into a Tiger timeout. Out of the break, Florida put together a 3-1 run to come
within three, 22-19. LSU then scored the final three points of the set to take
a 25-19 first-set victory. Florida
hit .000 in the opening set, compared to LSU’s .143.

Florida opened the second set on a 5-0
tear behind the strong serving of Ward. The Tigers responded by scoring three
of the next four points to cut within three, 6-3, before a resounding kill by
Murphy on the right side stopped the scoring streak. LSU then ran off three of
the next four points to cut within two, 8-6. A put-down by the Tigers’ Angela
Bensend brought them as close as one, 8-7, before an Anderson kill stopped the rally and put the
Gators back up by two, 9-7. With Florida
leading 9-8, Bledsoe and Ward recorded back-to-back kills in the middle and LSU
followed with an attack error to extend the Gators’ advantage to four, 12-8.
With Florida
ahead 12-9, Johnson served a kill and the Tigers followed with a ball-handling
error. Ward capped off the 3-0 UF run with an ace that forced LSU head coach
Fran Flory to burn a timeout with her team trailing 15-9.

The two
teams traded points until the Gators committed three consecutive errors and the
Tigers followed with a kill to allow them to cut within two, 17-15. Florida then ran off two
consecutive points to go up by four, 19-15. With the Gators in front 19-17, the
two squads traded points until the LSU’s Britnee Cooper recorded a kill and
followed with a block solo to cut within one, 20-19. Johnson then committed an
attack error to allow the Tigers to knot the score at 20-all. Murphy registered
a kill off the block to let Florida
re-gain the advantage at 21-20. Ward then followed with an ace to put the
Gators ahead 22-20 and force Flory to burn a timeout. Ward served an ace out of
the timeout and Cooper committed an attack error to bring Florida to set point at 24-20. The Tigers
then staved off two attempts at set point to force Wise to use a timeout, up
24-22. An LSU block and a Jaeckel attack error tied the score at 24-all. Murphy
drilled a kill down the middle to put the Gators up 25-24 and then Murphy
drilled an overpass down the middle on the next play to give Florida a 26-24 second-set victory.

The strong
serving of Cusack allowed the Gators to open up to a 7-2 advantage to start the
third set, as the run was capped off by a kill on the angle by Murphy heading
into an LSU timeout. After a put-down by the Tigers stopped UF’s scoring
streak, Murphy and Bledsoe recorded back-to-back kills to extend the Gators’
lead to six, 9-3. The two teams then traded points until consecutive kills by
Anderson, Bledsoe and Ward extended Florida’s
advantage to 13-5. The Tigers then ran off four consecutive points, due in
large part to their blocking, to cut within four, 13-9, and force Wise to use a
timeout. LSU continued to thrive, scoring the next two consecutive points to
come within two, 13-11, before a Bledsoe put-down stopped the streak. A net
violation against the Gators and an attack error by Murphy whittled the Tigers’
deficit down to one, 14-13. A kill by Cooper knotted the score at 14-14. After
three more ties, LSU scored two in a row to take a 19-17 lead.

With Florida trailing 20-18,
Jaeckel registered a kill on the outside to bring the Gators to within one,
20-19. With Florida
down 21-19, LSU committed a service error and Jaeckel notched a kill to again
tie the score, this time at 21-21. Back-to-back kills by the Tigers put them
ahead 23-21 and forced Wise to use another timeout. An LSU service error
brought UF to within one, 23-22, but a Cooper kill on the next play put the
Tigers at set point 24-22. Back-to-back kills by Rivers and Murphy knotted the
score at 24-24 and forced Flory to use a timeout. Out of the break, Anderson
and Murphy recorded a block, but the Tigers charted a kill on the next play to
re-tie the score. A Washington
attack on the next play found the floor to put LSU at set point at 26-25.

An attack
error by the Tigers, much to the dismay of the fans, again tied the score at
26-all before a Washington
kill brought LSU to set point at 27-26. Another attack error by the Tigers
knotted the score but they regrouped with a kill on the next play. An LSU
service error tied the score at 28-28 before a Cooper attack error put Florida
at set point at 29-28, but Cooper again followed with a kill to re-knot the
score at 29-all. Dabbs served an ace for the Tigers to put them ahead 30-29,
but a Bledsoe kill on the right side tied the score at 30-all. A Cooper kill
gave LSU a 31-30 advantage and Washington
drilled a kill on the angle to allow the Tigers to take a 32-30 third-set
victory.

The
Gators opened to a 6-2 advantage to begin the fourth set. From there, the two
teams began trading points before LSU, which was down 9-5, ran off three
straight points to cut within one, 9-8. Back-to-back errors by the Tigers put Florida back ahead by
three, 11-8. The teams then continued to trade points until a Murphy kill and a
Dabbs attack error extended the Gators’ advantage to four, 15-11. A Jaeckel
put-down capped off the 4-1 run and put Florida
ahead 17-12 heading into an LSU timeout.

Two
consecutive kills by the Tigers’ Williams and an LSU block whittled its deficit
down to two, 17-15. With the Tigers down three, 18-15, after a Williams attack
error, LSU ran off two consecutive points to cut within one, 18-17, heading
into a Florida
break. Out of the timeout, LSU’s Williams served an ace to knot the score at
18-all. After another tie at 19-19, Jaeckel and Ward registered consecutive
kills to put the Gators back up by two, 21-19. A kill by LSU’s Cooper and a
Ward attack error again knotted the score, this time at 21-all. Murphy
registered a kill on the right side and then a short serve by Cusack on the
next play trickled over the net for an ace to give Florida a 23-21 advantage. Cusack followed
with another ace to put Florida
at set point 24-21 thanks to her outstanding service run. The Tigers staved off
two attempts at set point to cut within one, 24-23, and force Wise to use her
second timeout of the set. A kill by Ward on the outside out of the break gave Florida a 25-23
fourth-set win.

The
Gators took a 4-1 advantage in the deciding set after back-to-back kills by
Johnson and Ward and an attack error by LSU’s Washington. After a Jaeckel service error,
Murphy and Anderson each notched kills to extend
Florida’s
advantage to four, 6-2. With the Gators in front 6-3, Murphy and Ward each
registered kills to go up by five, 8-3. Following a Dabbs kill, Ward recorded a
put-down of her own and the Tigers committed an attack error to give Florida a 10-4 lead
heading into an LSU timeout.

With the
Gators up 10-5, Florida
ran off two consecutive points to extend their lead to seven, 12-5. The Tigers
responded with two points of their own before a Dabbs service error gave the
Gators a 13-7 lead. LSU then used another 2-0 run to whittle its deficit down
to four, 13-9, and force Wise to use a timeout. A Jaeckel put-down off the
block brought UF to match point at 14-9 before a block by Johnson and Ward on
the match’s final play gave the Gators the 15-9 victory.

Florida returns to action on Sunday when it travels to Athens, Ga.,
to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. Opening serve in the RamseyStudentCenter is slated for 1:30
p.m. EDT and the match will be carried live on WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett.

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